Medicine 2022 entry - How difficult is it really? *title edited by MNHQ at OP's request*

[notmedicmum]

I couldn't find a thread for 2022 entrants to medicine - maybe I didn't look hard enough! DD is in Year 12 and has wanted to do medicine since Year 10. It's only this year that we realise the enormity of actually getting a place. Not only do you have to have brilliant grades, you must also have done work experience, volunteered (both difficult in the current situation), got excellent BMAT/UCAT scores. Oh, and you also must have cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for charity or climbed Kilimanjaro or won the Nobel Peace prize or found a cure for cancer (joking about the last two). How competitive is it REALLY? I'm not sure about the value of the last apart from being used as a selection tool as the unis get so many qualified applicants - and showing enterprise and drive. Apparently this sort of thing is even more important this year as getting work experience is very hard this year. How does climbing a mountain make you a better doctor anyway? And what can normal students do to improve their chances of success??

She stopped yesterday @Monkey2001 . Today has been sleeping and baking.

Is there anywhere for a nice brunch afterwards, or will she be heading off to start her holiday properly?

DD spent this morning playing tennis and this afternoon sound asleep on the sofa.

It's Mile End @KingscoteStaff so I'm not hopeful. I'm sure there will be something nearby if I research. I'll have a couple of hours to kill while she's doing it. Once she's done we start the countdown to GCSE results with a diversion to PCR results (fit to fly) on Wednesday.

Good luck to your DD today @SandyBayley. If you think waiting while they do the UCAT is stressful, prepare for equal stress doing the associated covid paperwork to go and return from oversees! We flew out on Thursday - and couldn't believe what a ghost town Gatwick was.

Fingers crossed…

Been thinking of you @SandyBayley, hoping for good news. 🤞🤞

All good. Happy DD. Slightly lower than her best mock as she felt her brain hadn't warmed up for VR but enough to not restrict choices very much (top decile). Pleased to get a Band 1 as well 😊

That sounds good @SandyBayley, I think my DS might be next from this thread - Friday 13th. We have a more civilised time, 8am would have been a disaster for any of our household! Hope we manage to maintain the success of the DCs on this thread....

Fingers crossed for your DS @Monkey2001 - may Friday 13th be lucky for him!

I think DD has decided on Bristol and Newcastle plus Oxford and Leeds.

We are off on holiday on Monday, and DD has refused to even look at the spreadsheet until we come back...

Enjoy your holibobs @KingscoteStaff!

I think DD now settling on Exeter, Edinburgh, Birmingham and either Cardiff or Kings. Definitely won't be applying to any BMAT unis.

@MidLifeCrisis007 I am sure you know that Edinburgh seemed to require perfect stats for an interview for RUK 2021 entry. I think it might be worth DD emailing Admissions with stats and asking whether an RUK applicant with those stats would have got an interview last year. I can't remember when they publish their Admissions stats, but they are skewed by the significantly lower requirements for Scottish applicants. This is driven by Scottish Funding Council - there were a maximum of 59 places for RUK applicants for 2021, with a drive to increase the number of Scottish students. See www.sfc.ac.uk/publications-statistics/announcements/2021/SFCAN152021.aspx

I could not see the 2022 target number but it won't be higher and might be lower.

@Monkey2001 - DD has dropped Edinburgh for that reason. If she'd got an absolutely stellar UCAT she might have chanced it but it just seems too risky as an RUK applicant even with very good academic results.

It's a real shame as it's where DH and I met and she's loves the city but it is what it is.

@SandyBayley she would have nothing to lose from emailing her stats and asking whether she would have got an interview last year. The SJT band matters more than whether she was 90th or 95th centile as 15% of the shortlisting score is for SJT.

That's a good idea @Monkey2001 - she does has the benefit of Band 1. I will suggest it to her 😊

I believe Edinburgh took 12 RUK students last year. The odds if English of getting an interview are v v v v low. I know a student with perfect stats and a UCAT over 3,000 who didn't get an interview in 2019. Scotland does seem to prioritise Scottish students. Apply with caution if south of the border.

@mumsneedwine I don't think that is right, they have published stats for 2020 entry and 176 RUK got offers and 76 started. They have not published 2021 yet as they can't do it until after results day.
www.ed.ac.uk/medicine-vet-medicine/edinburgh-medical-school/medicine/applying/assessment-selection-and-statistics/admissions-stats

For 2020 entry, Edinburgh was one of the med schools who took slightly more students than their quota when the cap was lifted. They made 176 RUK offers and took 76 RUK students.
I completely agree about the perfect stats. Edinburgh use their own deciles for UCAT, and top decile is around 2930 even in a normal year and may well have been 3000+ for 2021 entry. Dropping a decile loses 2 points, and it looked likely that even those 2 points would have meant a missed interview place for 2021.
You also need 8 x 8/9s at GCSE to include core subjects, AAA at A level, with an A* in chem and SJT is heavily weighted, again with a B2 dropping 2 points.
I know of lots of people who were not interviewed despite having perfect academics because they got a B2 SJT with cognitive score >3000 or a B1 with around 2900 cognitive score.
It is totally ridiculous and requires higher stats than any other med school

@mumsneedwine did your applicant with perfect stats have Band 1? That is often the problem, I would be very interested to see how many people with Band 2 were invited to interview for 2021.

@GANFYD sorry. Meant 72 !! Really should read things before I send them. It's such a small number compared to applicants though and applicant to interview rate is v low from what I've been told by admissions people.
My student had 10 GCSE A stars and 4 A level A star predictions so on paper was an amazing applicant. Was also from a Scottish family with relatives in Edinburgh, but classes as RUK. He ended up at Cardiff.

@Monkey2001 yes, had band 1. He was v upset as thought he stood a chance so emailed Uni. Just got told other applicants were strongly than him.

@GANFYD did Edinburgh reveal how they were allocating the 15% SJT and 35% UCAT? I assumed you must drop at least 5% for a band 2, maybe 7.5%. Do you think they dropped 5% for 2nd decile UCAT? Were people on TSR told their application score if they asked?

Of course we may get another one of those situations when people with slightly less than perfect scores don't dare to apply and the thresholds go down. Need to polish your crystal ball!

@Monkey2001 it's so hard knowing what to do. If Edinburgh is a favourite then it's always worth a punt. Someone has to get in !

@mumsneedwine I am amazed they found 195 people to interview from RUK if they needed 8A, at least 2xA +A at A level, band 1 and UCAT over 3000! Less than 1,400 people got at least 3000, a lot of them would not have got Band 1, and some would have been international or Scottish, a very high proportion of the ones left must have been interviewed at Edinburgh.

[quote Monkey2001]@GANFYD did Edinburgh reveal how they were allocating the 15% SJT and 35% UCAT? I assumed you must drop at least 5% for a band 2, maybe 7.5%. Do you think they dropped 5% for 2nd decile UCAT? Were people on TSR told their application score if they asked?

Of course we may get another one of those situations when people with slightly less than perfect scores don't dare to apply and the thresholds go down. Need to polish your crystal ball![/quote]
They gave points
SJT 6 for B1, 4 B2, 2 B3
UCAT 14 for top decile, 12 for 2nd etc, down to 5th, then drops in 1 point.
I am pretty sure they are still doing their double scoring for academics, so any dropped point becomes 2, as otherwise the points weightings don't work out.

Applicant to interview rate is low, as you need nigh on perfect stats, but get an interview and 90% got offers for 2020 entry! Did seem lower than that for this year, but then most places made fewer offers due to the CAGs debacle knock-on effect and hard to separate out Home v RUK, as they require very different things as cohorts.
I feel there is little point applying unless you are close to full marks, as this is what has been needed for years, and they are not over-interviewing compared to offers, so unless that changes, requirements are not likely to go down
Essentially, seems to need to have been perfect this last year and top decile did seem to be over 3000 from those rejected, but clearly, you have no idea the veracity of stated stats!
DS had interview with 3320 UCAT and otherwise full score, friend did not with 3100 but B2 and perfect academics. RUK below 3000 did not seem to interview